Layoff Trends for February 2021

Intellizence publishes monthly trends about major layoffs in companies every month. The following is the analysis of the Intellizence Layoff Data for the month of February 2021.

The number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs in the United States stood at about 6.59 million. Though the job market has been slowly looking up, many businesses still continue to reel under economic pressure and the pandemic that flattened the economy a year ago.

Highlights 

Summary of insights based on the analysis of the Intellizence Layoff Dataset for the month of Feb 2021.

• The top 3 largest layoffs were — Heineken (8,000), Best Buy (5,000), Rabobank (5000). 
• Most layoffs were announced in the retail, energy, and insurance sector.
• In the US,176 companies filed WARN notices to cut 27,868 jobs across sectors during the month. 
• The common reasons for layoffs are – market conditions, restructuring, M&A, COVID-19, cost-cutting, and business closure.

Top 9 Global Mass Layoffs 

Following are the top layoffs announced for the month of February 2021, across sectors and regions:

1. Heineken N.V
   Dutch brewing giant Heineken N.V. plans to lay off 8,000 employees, amounting to about 10% of its workforce, to cope with losses it has incurred during the pandemic.
2. Best Buy
   The retail company has laid off 5,000 workers this month and is planning to close more stores this year and go online. Best Buy expects 40% of its sales to come from online purchases this year.
3. Rabobank
   Dutch lender Rabobank is to cut its workforce by 5000 and downsize its branch network. The bank will invest in digital technology over the coming years, to improve its operational and financial performance in a low-interest environment.
4. Centene
   The multi-line healthcare insurer is to eliminate 3000 jobs and 1,500 open positions as a result of restructuring. The job cuts will mainly impact positions where Centene has “significant overlap” from its acquisitions of Apixio, a healthcare analytics company, and PANTHERx, one of the largest and fastest-growing specialty pharmacies in the US.
5. Philippine Airlines (PAL)
   PAL is implementing a company-wide workforce reduction program covering about 2,300 employees, approximately 30% of the airline’s workforce. This includes both voluntary separations and involuntary retrenchment.
6. Jaguar Land Rover
   The automobile company plans to reduce its global salaried workforce by about 2,000 people in the next financial year as the UK automaker cuts costs. Jaguar luxury brand all-electric by 2025.
7. Bombardier
   The world-leading manufacturer of business jets will halt its Learjet aircraft production and slash about 1,600 jobs as it becomes a pure-play business jet maker. The company is consolidating its Global aircraft completion work in Montreal and reviewing options for the underutilized hangar and industrial space at its Quebec facilities to generate savings.
8. Air Canada
   Air Canada is again suspending more flights, cutting services, laying off at least 1,500 new jobs, including a number of management positions among its union members. 
9. Telstra
   The Australian telecommunications giant’s global employee layoffs will affect over 25% of their workforce, around 1425 jobs. A total of 8,000 employees would have lost their jobs after the final round of cuts takes effect by June 30, 2021. 

Layoff Trends By Industry 

Following is the industry-wise breakdown that had more than 500 job layoffs in the US for the month of February 2021.

Source: Intellizence Layoff Dataset

US Monthly Unemployment Trend – Feb 2021

 According to the US Govt. Labor statistics,

• The unemployment rate was little changed at 6.2 percent, and the number of unemployed persons decreased to 10.0 million.
• Most of the job gains were in the leisure and hospitality sector, with smaller gains in temporary help services, health care and social assistance, retail trade, and manufacturing.  
• Employment declined in education, construction, and mining.

Monthly number of job losers in the U.S. from February 2020 to February 2021

Disclaimer: 

The data is based on layoff announcements found in the public domain like popular news sources and WARN Filings. WARN filings are considered only for the US states that publish the data.

Source: Intellizence Layoff Dataset